How to Use abstention in a Sentence

abstention

noun
  • There were 10 ayes, 6 nays, and 2 abstentions when the vote was taken.
  • The vote was six in favor, one vote no and one abstention.
    — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 27 May 2026
  • The vote was 8-3, with one abstention.
    — Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The bill, which needed four votes to pass, received three yeses, two nos and two abstentions.
    — Carolyn Said, SFChronicle.com, 21 June 2018
  • The House passed the bill by a vote of 88-9 with three abstentions.
    — Mike Cason | [email protected], al, 26 Jan. 2023
  • The abstention was a sign of the growing rift between the two allies.
    — Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 26 Mar. 2024
  • The final vote was 6-1 with two abstentions.
    — Charlie De Mar, CBS News, 20 Jan. 2026
  • The vote to finance that project was 12-4, with one abstention.
    — Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2020
  • The bill passed the House by a vote of 72-20 with six abstentions.
    — Howard Koplowitz, AL.com, 6 Mar. 2018
  • The school board voted to approve the plan 8 to 3, with one abstention.
    — Hannah Natanson, Washington Post, 23 Sep. 2020
  • The motion passed by a vote of 145-5 with six abstentions.
    — Mariam Khan, ABC News, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The ordinance failed by a vote of six in favor and seven against, with one abstention.
    — Tom Sissom, Arkansas Online, 16 June 2023
  • The usual goal of abstention is the avoidance of needless conflict with a state court.
    — Kurtis Lee, latimes.com, 15 Dec. 2017
  • The only politician who had cause to cheer the high rate of abstention was Mr Bukele.
    — The Economist, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The motion passed with eight in favor and one abstention from White, the board minutes said.
    — Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 19 June 2026
  • The vote on the six-member body, which is split evenly by party, was four in favor and one against, with one abstention.
    — Isaac Stanley-Becker, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Aug. 2022
  • Partly because of worries about the virus, the abstention rate, at 58%, was a record high.
    — The Economist, 4 July 2020
  • They were overruled 11-2 with two abstentions.
    — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 10 Mar. 2026
  • They were overruled 11-2 with two abstentions.
    — Christopher Cann, USA Today, 11 Mar. 2026
  • They were overruled 11-2 with two abstentions.
    — Bart Jansen, USA Today, 13 Mar. 2026
  • Brighton and six others wanted it, but 12 voted against, with one abstention.
    — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 12 Dec. 2025
  • The law received 81 votes in its favor, 12 against it, and two abstentions.
    — David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
  • The vote was 10 to 4, with one abstention for a conflict of interest.
    — NBC News, 24 Apr. 2021
  • The plan received 29 yes votes, with 18 opposed and one abstention.
    — Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 11 May 2021
  • The ruling was issued by the full, or en banc, court, in a 10-3 ruling with two abstentions.
    — Fox News, 25 May 2017
  • The five-year plan was approved with 2,758 votes in favor, one against, and two abstentions.
    — ABC News, 12 Mar. 2026
  • The rest of the votes were write-ins, abstentions or in support of Christopher Seymore.
    — Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 4 Feb. 2026
  • The vote was 142-10 with 12 abstentions.
    — Arkansas Online, 14 Sep. 2025
  • While Macron is favored in the polls, a high abstention rate or a blank protest ballot could help Le Pen.
    — Elaine Ganley and Sylvie Corbet, chicagotribune.com, 1 May 2017
  • The vote on the measure to keep fighting for the current alignment failed 11-6, with one abstention.
    — Janet Moore, Star Tribune, 13 Aug. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abstention.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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